Revolutionising Convenience: The Power of Emotions
Recently, we’ve taken a deep dive into the convenience sector to understand the motivations driving choice. The ability to quickly access essential products, grab a snack on the go, or refuel at a nearby location has traditionally been the primary appeal of convenience stores.
However, the convenience landscape is changing. The increasing trend towards remote work and transitioning to an electric-powered future has decreased dependency on petrol stations and convenience stores.
In response to these trends, almost all convenience stores are making the fundamental mistake of pitching their brand and their products in overwhelmingly rational terms – by offering food products with either smaller portion sizes or ingredients of lesser quality or introducing exclusive product lines, at higher prices, designed specifically for electric vehicle drivers
This is a big mistake. Here’s why.
20 years ago Nobel Prize Winner Daniel Kahneman showed us that almost all human decisions are taken by the subconscious part of our brains (he called this ‘System 1’), primarily driven by emotional motivations – not logical, rational analysis.
We choose between brands based on subconsciously-held desires to feel a certain way and selling convenience (or any other type of product) purely on its rational attributes risks failing to engage with the motivations at the heart of decision-making.
To make matters worse, conventional research tools (the sort used by almost all large businesses) were developed before Kahneman’s insights and so were designed to connect with the conscious part of the human brain. Unfortunately, this means they cannot connect with our subconscious decision-making processes and so fail to pick up the importance of the critical emotional motivators.
But – we can help. Think Again Growth have utilised developments in research techniques that have evolved post Kahneman’s work to create a unique suite of methodologies that can connect with subconscious decision-making processes and the emotional motivations that lie there. We call our methodologies Neuro-Emotive Analytics™ and they provide insights at a level way beyond the capability of conventional research techniques.
These methodologies enable us to provide our convenience store clients with deep insights into the true motivations driving choice within this sector. With these insights our consultants work with client teams to develop product and service offers, and marketing messaging enhancements which step-change the appeal of our clients’ brands and their products and services.
To give you an example from our recent work with a client in Asia, we used our implicit methodologies to model decision-making amongst convenience store customers and uncovered some surprising insights.
Our client initially believed that decision-making was primarily influenced by conventional factors like store proximity and product variety. However, our implicit technology uncovered a different reality, showing that the quality of the food played a more significant role. We pinpointed the ready-to-eat category as pivotal for brand differentiation, emphasising the importance of great taste. Our research also identified two distinct customer subgroups: one seeking delicious, high-quality meal options and another interested in innovative and exciting food choices.
Our client already offered ready-to-eat food at the time but didn’t have huge credibility within the market. We showed them how to maximise their emotional connection with the customer at every stage of the interaction process. Identifying the factors contributing to customers’ positive emotional experiences at crucial interaction points can significantly impact their decision when choosing which convenience store to visit.
Together these insights enabled our client to achieve double digit growth in some of their ready-to-eat categories and substantially increased customer satisfaction and purchase intention.
To find out more, why not get in touch? We’d love to tell you more about how our Neuro-Emotive Analytics™ and the insights they reveal could transform the appeal of your business.